Sunday October 31st, 18:00

Sunday Afternoon Improvisation

Astner, Hess, Menger, Marien

Sunday Afternoon Improvisation

Malin Astner

Malin Astner is a freelance dance artist in contemporary and improvised dance, based in Berlin and Stockholm. The last 2 years her work has been focused on several improvisation-collaborations with musicians and dancers, performing in Berlin, Mexico, Paris and touring in Switzerland. Malin is a member of The Meeting-point/Berlin, where she has been participating and mentoring practice-sessions in instant composition. During spring 2010 Malin was working with choreographer Anne-Mareike Hess in the production Never-Ending up North for Théâtre National du Luxembourg, and also in the dance and music collaboration TARA - touring Switzerland. In Stockholm Malin worked with choreographers Susanne Jaresand, Margaretha Åsberg, Jukka Korpi, Malin Elgán, Malin Hellqvist Sellen and in Kompani Equilibrium. Malin was educated at University College of Dance in Stockholm and at Rotterdamse Dansakadeimi in Rotterdam. She has also been teaching contemporary dance and improvisation at The Royal Swedish Ballet School and The Ballet Academy in Stockholm as well as at Danscentrum (Sweden), Tanzfabrik (Berlin) and Troi C-L (Luxembourg). Malin has received grants from Swedish Art Council, Dance Web, Anders Sandrew and Carina Ari’s memorial fund, which has enabled her to study improvisation with different artists, most importantly Julyen Hamilton. Malin is also one of the founders of “Blink” working for dance-art in exchange between Sweden and Berlin.
www.malinastner.com

Anne-Mareike Hess

The dancer and choreographer Anne-Mareike Hess was born in Luxembourg. She started her dance education at the Conservatory of Music in Luxembourg and at the TDM (today TROIS C-L). To complete her dance education she went to study at the HfMDK in Frankfurt/Main (Germany). In 2006 she finished her studies in Frankfurt by obtaining her Diploma and since she is working as a freelance dancer and choreographer in Luxembourg and Germany. I addition to this Anne-Mareike made a Master in Choreography at the Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum in Berlin (2008-2010). As a dancer Anne-Mareike was working amongst others with William Forsythe (“Human Writes”), Performance Forum “Blaue Limonen” and Miriam Horwitz. During this time she also worked as an assistant for the choreographers Bernard Baumgarten and Gianfranco Celestino. Her own choreographies (Utopie-Try Out, remember, Insightinside) were performed in Luxembourg, Germany, France, Italy, England, Rumania, Croatia and Canada. In 2008 she was part of the international project « Dance Roads 2008 » and was invited to the Festival Repérages in Lille (FR);  Her latest production Never-ending up north was co produced by the National Theatre in Luxembourg. Since 2007 the luxembourgish Ministry of Culture supports Anne-Mareike Hess on a regular base. Anne-Mareike Hess is collaborating since 2009 with the theatre director Miriam Horwitz.
www.annemareikehess.com

Sarah Menger

Sarah Menger was born in Lich, Germany. Since 2003 she has been based in Berlin, working as a dancer, choreographer, teacher and Body-Mind-Centering® Practitioner. She holds a Fine Arts Diploma in painting and performance from the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar and was appointed as a master-student of Professor Wolfgang Nestler. She studied New Dance at Dance Vision Institute in San Francisco and at bewegungsart in Freiburg and has continued her research in dance with different teachers including Daniel Lepkoff, Julyen Hamilton, David Zambrano, Ray Chung, Prapto Suryodarmo, Amos Hetz, Minako Seki, Eva Karczag, Nancy Stark-Smith and Steve Paxton.

In 2007 Sarah became certified by the School for Body-Mind-Centering® as a practitioner, Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist. Her approach to the moving body is also influenced by her practice of different bodywork techniques including Gindler work, Sensory Awareness and Yoga in addition to BMC.
Since 2000 she has been teaching dance improvisation, movement research and bodywork and is on staff at the Somatic Movement-Art Training in Berlin.

As a dancer and choreographer Sarah has worked with Daniel Lepkoff, Walli Höfinger, Amos Hetz, the Shua Group New York, Isabelle Schad and Frédéric Gies.
Her own artistic work is focused on Instant Composition and Physical Improvisation.  She has presented solos and worked in collaboration with other dancers, artists and musicians in Germany and abroad. Her latest collaboration has been with fellow choreographer Raisa Kröger and musician Constantin Popp, exploring and researching the interplay between sound and movement. They have presented collective performances as well as taught together at the "Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar”.

Christian Marien

Christian Marien lives in Berlin since 2000, studied jazz drumming in Amsterdam and Berlin. He is a member of many projects (Superimpose, The Astronomical Unit, Computerband, Miss Platnum), releasing CDs on labels like “Leo-records” or “Jazzwerkstatt” and playing all over Europe and the United States. A large focus is put on the collaboration with dancers, actors and painters to merge music with other forms of artistic expression. Especially within the project „Ritsche, Zast & Marien“ he is doing performances and creating exhibitions.